Submarine boat.



Patented Jan. 1 1919.

ATTORNEYS lid JOHN 'W. ANDERSON, GROTQLT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO ELECTRIC BOAT COMPANY, A CORPORATION 015 NEW JERSEY.

SUBMARINE BOAT.

Application filed March 28, 1917.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, JOHN W. AND RSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Groton, in the county of New London and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Submarine Boats; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to submarine boats of the type in which a steam power plant is used for surface propulsion, and involves the provision of a cooling and condensing system for the steam power plant by which the exhaust steam from the turbine may be condensed and passed back to the boiler when the boat is being propelled on the surface, and by which live steam may be drawn directly from the boiler and condensed and then passed directly back to the boiler when the submarine is compelled to submerge.

When a submarine boat is being propelled on the surface under steam power, the exhaust steam from the turbine is passed to a condenser of large capacity as, compared with the capacity of a condenser which would be adequate merely to condense live steam bled direct from the boiler after the fires are put out preparatory to submergence. Since sea-water is commonly used as the cooling fluid, this water being drawn directly from the sea and passed'through the condenser and then discharged overboard, the condenser for handling live steam bled from the boiler would have to be built heavy enough to Withstand the pressures of deep submergence, as it might be desired frequently to submerge to a substantial depth within a short interval of time after running on the surface propelled by the steam power. plant. If the ordinary large capacity condenser were made strong enough to withstand these submergence pressures, the great weight and bulk of such a condenser would be very undesirable.

The present invention provides asteam power plant and condensing system therefor comprising a. plurality of condensers, one of which is of large capacity and of comparatively light construction and the other of Which is of small capacity but is strong and. rugged and adapted for deep submergenee trot-la, in combination with steam and Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. ii, rare.

fierial No. 157,ii99.

cooling fluid connections so arranged that during surface propulsion the deep submergence condenser may be isolated from the system and the ordinary condenser may receive exhaust steam from the turbine. But when the boat is submerged, the connections may be so rearranged that steam from the boiler will pass directly to the deep submergence condenser and the condensate will flow from that condenser back to the boiler. .By this construction and arrangement of the power plant, the dangerous condition is avoided of allowing steam to remain in various units of the power plant while other units adjacent thereto are lowered in temperature by reason of the submergence of the boat.

The invention will be clearly understood from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, of which Figure 1 shows a submarine boat provided with the new system, and Fig. 2 illustrates the details of the system on an enlarged scale, the two views being generally diagrammatic.

The boiler is indicated at 3, the turbine at 4 and the large capacity or ordinary condenser at 5. A connection comprising pipes 6 and 7 leads from the boiler to the turbine, an exhaust connection 8 leads from the turbine to the condenser 5, and a connection comprising pipes 9 and 10 leads from the condenser 5 back to the boiler. A suction pump 11 is inserted in the pipe 9, and a suitable feed-water tank and boiler feed pump (not shown) may also be inserted in the connection between the condenser 5 and the boiler. The condenser 5 is served with cooling water by means of connections 12 and pump 13, whereby sea-water maybe drawn into the boat and passed through the condenser 5 to cool the exhaust steam from the turbine and then discharged overboard. These connections are provided with valves 14: which may be closed to protect the condenser 5 from the pressures of, sub1ne1= oence when this condenser is cut out and the deep submergence condenser 1S substltuted in the system.

The deep submergence condenser is indi cated at 6. A connection 15 leads from the junction of pipes 62 and 7 to the deep submergence condenser, and a connection 16- leads from this condenser to the junction between a and re, a section pamp it lllttil being inserted in the connection 16. A conmotion 18 leads from the sea to the shell 6 of the deep submergence condenser and admits sea-water to the condenser as the cooling fluid therefor when a pump 19 is operated, this pump being arranged to draw the cooling sea-water into and through the shell 6 of condenser 6 and to discharge the sea-water through an overboard discharge connection 20. arranged so that the steam admitted thereto from connection 15' passes through coils located within the shell of the condenser. This condenser 6 must be able to withstand pressures of very deep submergence, if necessary, and so the shell 6 is built up of a hollow cylindrical main portion and spherical end caps as indicated, and the pump 19 is of strong and rugged construction. This pump, however, need only be a light duty pump, since the only work necessary is that sufficient to overcome the friction of the circulating sea-water.

A tWo-Way valve 21 is provided at the junction of pipes 62 and 7 and connection 15, and a valve 22 is provided at the junction of pipes 9 and 10 and connection 16.

The operation of the ystem is as follows:

During surface propulsion, the valve 21 is arranged so that steam from the boiler 3 will flow from pipe 62 into the turbine 4 as indicated by the arrow B, valve 22 is arranged to cut out connection 16 and place pipes 9 and 10 in communication, and pumps 11 and 13 are operating. The exhaust steam from the turbine is discharged by way of connection 8 to the ordinary or large cacapity condenser 5, the steam being there condensed and then returned to the boiler by way of pipes 9 and 10 and pump 11 in a manner which will readily be understood. Valves 14 are of course opened so that pump 13 may cause the continuous passage of the cooling seawater through connections 12 and the condenser 5.

When the boat submerges, the valve 21 is adjusted to cut the turbine 4 out of the system, and so that live steam from the boiler will pass by way of pipe 62 into connection 15 as indicated by the arrow A. The pump 13 is stopped, and the valves 14; are closed to protect the condenser 5 from being sub jected to the pressures of deep submergence. The pump 11 is also stopped, and the valve 22 is adjusted to disconnect the pipe 9 from the boiler and to place connection 16 and pipe 10 in communication. Pumps 17 and 19 are started in operation, and the live steam from the boiler is passed through pipe 62 and connection 15 directly into the deep submergence condenser 6, where such steam is subjected to the cooling action of the sea-water which is passed through the condenser by pump 19. The steam thus bled directly into the deep submergence conden- Condenser 6 is preferably ser is condensed and the condensate passes into connection 16 and is returned directly to the boiler. In a very short time after the fires in the boiler room are put out and the deep submergence condenser is substituted for the ordinary condenser in the system, cold water will be passing from the boiler into the deep submergence condenser and from this condenser back to the boiler.

It may be explained that the main or ordinary condenser 5 and practically all parts of the turbine are fairly cold in actual op eration, and therefore these units of the power plant installation may be disregarded when employing the deep subi'nergence condenser to cool the power plant system to avoid the dangers arising from subjecting adjacent parts of the boat to the greatly differing temperatures, resulting from submergence. Furthermore, there would be an objection to passing steam from the boiler through the ordinary large capacity coudenser as a preliminary to passing that steam through the deep submergence condenser, because as soon as the valves 1 1- are closed, as would be necessary to protect the ordinary condenser against the deep submergence pressures, the cooling water in the ordinary condenser would cease to circulate, and as a result this water would soon :1] sorb a large amount of heat which would not he carried off.

It will be noted that in Fig. 1 the deep submergence condenser is positioned in the superstructure space. Since the superstructure is connnonly provided with scuppers,

submerged propulsion of the boat will cause the continuous passage of water through the superstructure space. Therefore, according to the installation shown in Fig. 1, these currents will sweep past the shell 6 of the deep submergence condenser and facilitate quick cooling of the live steam discharged into that condenser. If desired, the shell 6" of the deep submergence condenser, and also the connections 18 and 20 and the pump 19, may be dispensed with in connection with the system of Fig. 1; and then the deep submergence condenser would consist of eX- posed tubes or coils of the familiar type joining connections 15 and 16 and acted upon directly by the water currents passing through the superstructure space during suh merged propulsion of the boat.

It will be seen that the invention provides what may be termed a first steam-conveying circuit comprising the boiler 3, the pipes 62 and 7, the turbine 4, the connection 8, the large capacity condenser 5 and the pipes 9 and 10, in combination with a second steamconveying circuit comprising the boiler, the pipe 62, the connection 15, the deep sub mergence condenser 6, the connection 16 and the pipe 10.

When the deep submergence condenser consists of exposed pipes over which the sea-water passes as the boat is propelled, this condenser may be conveniently located within the superstructure space, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. It will be understood, however, that the invention is in no way limited with respect to the location of this condenser as the coils of pipes forming the condenser may be placed in any convenient location outside the hull of the boat where the sea-water will pass over them as the boat is propelled through the water and cool the steam passing through them.

I claim:

1. In a submarine boat, apparatus for propelling the boat on the surface including a boiler, a steam engine supplied with steam thereby, and a condenser to which steam passes from the engine and from which the water of condensation is returned to the boiler, said condenser being supplied with cooling water from the sea and being of such light construction as to be incapable of withstanding the pressure of deep submergence, and a second condenser connected to the boiler to receive steam therefrom when the boat is submerged, said second condenser also receiving cooling water from the sea and being of small size and heavy construction relatively to the first condenser so that it is capable of withstanding the pressure of deep submergence.

2. In a submarine boat having a self-filling and self-bailing superstructure, apparatus for propelling the boat upon the surface including a boiler, a steam engine receiving steam from the boiler, and a condenser receiving steam from the engine and from which the water of condensation is returned to the boiler, said condenser being supplied with cooling water from the sea and being of such light construction as to be incapable of withstanding the pressure of deep submergence, and a second condenser of small size and heavy weight relatively to the first condenser located in the said superstructure and arranged to receive steam from the boiler when the boat is submerged.

3. In a submarine boat, a boiler, a steam engine for propelling the boat supplied with steam by the boiler, a first condenser, a second condenser of small size and heavy construction compared to the first condenser, means for conducting cooling water from the sea to both of the condensers to cool. them, and piping between the various parts whereby during operation of the boat upon the surface steam from the engine passes through the first condenser and the water of condensation from that condenser passes to the boiler and whereby "when the boat is submerged the first condenser is disconnected from the steam circuit and the second condenser is connected therein so as to receive steam from the boiler to condense the steam and cool the boiler.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JOHN W. ANDERSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, 1]. G. 

